English not anti-poor

CONTRARY to the belief of educators led by the Wika ng Kultura at Agham Inc. (WIKA), English as a medium of instruction is not anti-poor.
Before one jumps to the conclusion that it is indeed anti-poor and that it alienates Filipino school children from their Filipino heritage, he should ask himself whether knowing to speak English is an asset or not. If it is, then it is not anti-poor since it will benefit the poor.
In a global market where English is the medium of communication, the poor will be able to compete if they know how to speak the language. The reason why the country is surviving is because of the millions of OFW working abroad.
And how were they able to get jobs in these foreign countries? Well, they speak English. Today, you don't have to go out of the country to need your English to be employed. Think about the thousands of jobs made available by the call center business. The reason why these foreign companies established these call centers is because Filipinos speak English well.
By using English as a medium of instruction, it does not necessarily compromise our Filipino heritage. You will never appreciate this truth unless you go abroad and speak to Filipinos who migrated years ago. They and their children speak Tagalog, Ilocano, Ilonggo, etc. and they eat pinakbet, sinigang, lechon, etc. This is true even to children born in those foreign countries. If we drop English as a medium of instruction, this will be a loss not only for the Filipino people in general, but to the poor in particular. Whether we like it or not, we are now living in a global economy. Let us, as a nation, compete globally.
-- Teck Uy, Ontario, Canada (via e-mail)